And I Kind of, Sort of Love You
by Out-Of-Control-Authoress
Summary: Part two of the "Three Ways" collection.  Kazuha and Heiji always fight.  It's a constant between them. But when something changes, when the fight suddenly feels different, the two of them are left feeling more lost and confused than ever.


Three one-shots, dedicated to three special teenaged couples.

I try to portray the two characters' Osaka accents by using very strong "English" slang. Sorry if it causes confusion. It's not just bad spelling on my part. (laughs)

Part Two: KazuhaxHeiji

Three Ways

And I Kind of, Sort of Love You

"Ahou!"

Students turned in fear at the familiar shout of rage. They backed up to the walls, hoping to stay out of the warpath, praying that they wouldn't be caught in the middle of another famous battle between _those two_.

At the end of the hallway, a young man stood with his hands in his pockets. Altogether, he looked completely relaxed.

Students nearby, who had already prepared for the storm, wondered whether or not his sense of imminent danger was broken.

"Heiji!"

Finally, the young man turned around.

And he found himself face to face with a very, very, very angry young woman. She was holding a paper, one with a picture to her likeness. The only problem, perhaps, was the fact that she had horns.

That, and she seemed to be breathing very carefully, artistically shaded fire.

"Is this your idea of a joke?" she demanded, thrusting the picture to his face. "Huh? Heiji? What do ya have to say for yourself, you stupid ahou!"

The young man took one quick look at the picture, decided that her reaction really wasn't worth it, and snatched it out of her hands. He took a step forward, putting one hand on top of her head. Her eyes went wide, face turning red as a cherry.

Absently, he noticed that she looked sort of funny, that way.

By this point, most of the students had escaped, for fear of their survival. The hallway was nearly empty, save for a few poor souls who wandered by, only realizing when they were right near _those two_ that there was trouble brewing.

Heiji waited a moment, milking the silence as the young woman began to babble incoherently in an embarrassed flurry.

Then, he gave her a vicious noogie to the top of the head, sending her hair into all kinds of wild directions.

The surprised blush on her face turned to a burning red colouring of anger.

"AHOU!" She screamed, swiping at him.

Heiji dodged back, sticking a finger in his ear and wiggling it. "Jeez, Kazuha. I'm gonna get deaf by the time yer' done with me."

"Would serve you right!" She shouted at him, swiping a second time. She nearly caught him, that time. The only problem was that Heiji was very practiced in the art of avoiding a violent Kazuha.

She stopped attacking, standing there fuming. A young man made his way down the hallway, got within six feet of her, and decided that a couple more staircases were much safer than braving past Kazuha when she was angry.

He was a smart kid.

"Ahou!" Heiji snapped. "It was just a _joke_!"

"A rude one! Don't you have any manners?"

Kazuha was holding the drawing out in front of her, scrutinizing it with a glare so fierce that she could have lit the paper on fire. Heiji, who was bored with her just glaring at something that he'd done as a little prank, snatched it out of her hands.

"Hey!" Kazuha shouted, and repeated the protest when he balled it up and tossed it into a nearby trash bin.

Kazuha crossed her arms, her glare fierce. "That was mine, you know."

Heiji guffawed, "you were gonna kill me fer' it, but yer still pissed off when I get rid of the damn thing? What kind o' logic is _that_, you crazy woman?"

Kazuha huffed at him, turning on her heel and stomping down the hallway.

Heiji let out a groan of exasperation. "Ka-zu-ha," he whined after her, dramatically pronouncing every syllable, "I'm sorry fer' it, okay? Jus' don't give me the cold shoulder, Kazuha!"

She continued walking, but indecision flashed across her face at his plea. It only took a second for her to decide, though, and finally she stuck her nose in the air and continued to walk.

"Kazuha!" Heiji shouted as he stumbled to keep up with her. "God_damn_ it..."

She pushed the school doors open, deliberately letting them swing violently behind her as Heiji trailed helplessly. He continued to follow as she stomped off of the school grounds and began to prowl down the street.

"Look, I'm _sorry_, Kazuha-"

"That's not th' point, Heiji," Kazuha snapped, her voice almost more fiery in its chilliness.

"Then what _is_?" he demanded, throwing his arms in the air in a common gesture of complete frustration.

Kazuha stopped and spun around so that she was opposite to him. "You hurt my _feelings_, Heiji," she hissed lowly.

Heiji's eyes went wide, as if he hadn't expected the statement at all. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Kazuha cut him off by continuing.

"You jus' don't get it, do you?" Kazuha asked, barking out a bitter laugh. "You are _always_ doin' this."

He just didn't get it. Heiji never got it. He always made fun of her, treating her like another guy instead of-

Instead of what?

"Doin' what?" he asked her. He sounded more quietly desperate than openly aggravated, by this point.

Their fights often ended up like this. The both of them were always headstrong, and often did things to each other without taking emotions into account.

Kazuha was trying to get this across to Heiji. She didn't like it when he drew pictures of her as a big, ugly, angry thing. She didn't want to be that, in his eyes.

Just like he hadn't wanted to be that marker-coloured mess that had been his picture, from her good luck charm.

Kazuha hadn't done that. She hadn't wanted that. She wanted to see Heiji the way he was.

So why did he see her as she was?

"Hurtin' my feelings by-" her lip trembled of its own accord, "-by bein' an _ahou_, a complete and total _jerk_!"

That said, Kazuha spun on her heel again and ran the rest of the way down the street, ignoring Heiji's shouting her name, and the sound of footsteps pounding after her. She lost him in the crowd of other students and general passerby quickly enough.

She hated him. She really, really hated him. He was such a jerk. He would never, ever, ever get it.

He didn't feel the same way. She was sure of that.

Kazuha caught a gasp in her throat, screeching to a halt in the middle of the empty street.

Didn't feel the same way...as her?

How did she feel?

"I..." she whispered, touching her fingers to her lips.

_I think I love him._

She stumbled down her own street, her knees almost buckling over the weight of those five, simple words.

She felt awful all of a sudden.

So she had told Heiji off. It happened all the time, right? It was normal, for them. He'd hurt her feelings, she'd yell at him, they'd argue, and then they'd both apologize without looking at each other and just get over it.

Kazuha used a walled fence to keep herself balanced as she staggered to her house. "You _ahou_..." she whispered, feeling heavier and sicker and more pained than ever.

It was just the usual stuff between them, right?

If it was normal, then why did that wounded expression on Heiji's face make her hurt so much?

_Because I love him._

Kazuha barely made it through her front door and into her bedroom before she broke down into tears.

* * *

Heiji tried to call her four times that evening. She had passed along through the household that no Heiji-calls were to be answered. Her dad, both being very smart and having value for his own life, eventually just disconnected the phone to save himself from temptation.

She didn't cry once more, that night. After having a quiet dinner with her family, she just went to bed early and laid there, staring up at her ceiling as if it would give her some answers to why it had been different _this time_.

Why she couldn't get Heiji's face out of her head this time.

Why she felt so bad about giving him a hard time, this time.

Why she just felt sick to her stomach. Why _he_ was the reason for that.

_Because I love him._

She had slowly fallen into a very deep, dreamless sleep.

When Kazuha woke up the next morning, her father had warned her that Heiji was waiting at the door for her.

She wasn't surprised. Not at all.

After all, Heiji was always waiting for her in the morning.

He was always there. There for her.

Kazuha had gotten ready in record time, grabbed her bag and some quick breakfast before meeting Heiji outside.

She had to notice, though, that he looked a lot more tired than he usually did. His eyes flashed when she came out to meet him.

"Kazuha, I'm s-"

"Don't worry about it, Heiji," Kazuha cut him off by saying. "I'm over it. S'okay."

The tired, pained expression on his face didn't lift. It didn't even so much as shift. "Don't matter. I'm still sorry." His expression flickered, this time.

The expression on his face bespoke agony, and a long night of self-loathing. There were bags under his eyes, and his face was a shade paler than usual.

He turned and began walking. Kazuha lingered behind him a bit, staring at his back with confusion.

Since when did Heiji take their fights to heart?

_Since when did you?_ A treacherous little part of her mind whispered.

She had no answer for it.

Heiji stopped, his footsteps slowly coming to a halt in front of her. Kazuha's head shot up in confusion.

"Heiji, why are we stoppin'? We got to get to-"

Her words were effectively stopped by him grabbing her around the shoulders, pulling her into his arms. Kazuha let out a small shriek of surprise as he did so.

His shoulders were shaking slightly. He gripped the shirt of her uniform, holding her tighter than she could ever remember him doing before.

It didn't feel like normal Heiji.

This was a different Heiji, and it scared her.

"H-H-Heiji...?"

"I'm sorry, Kazuha, if I'm always messin' up...sayin' and doin' things that hurt yer feelings." His voice was low and rough. She inhaled against her will. He smelled nice.

_I love you._

He smelled like Heiji. Her arms wound up to hold him too, but not of her own accord.

_You make me crazy._

"I don't mean it. I really don't."

"What're ya talkin' abou-?"

He pulled back, staring deep into her eyes. "Kazuha, I don't mean ta always hurt yer' feelings when I'm actin' all stupid. I'm just..."

_Just in love with you._

He trailed off, face going pink. He glanced off to the side, looking embarrassed and more than a little confused.

Kazuha blinked and, in a moment of complete impulse, reached up between them to touch his cheek with her fingers. "Just what, Heiji?"

_Please say it._

Heiji inhaled sharply at her touch, hands pulling from her shoulders as if she had burned him. He coughed into his palm, avoiding her gaze. "Just...ah...just..." he struggled to finish the sentence, and his expression grew even more confused.

_I'm begging you._

"Just...uh...tryin' ta...make ya...smile, I guess." He rubbed the back of his head, face going an even darker shade of red.

_Trying to light up your day._

Kazuha blinked rapidly.

Did he just say what she thought he'd just said?

"Just tryin'...ta make me smile?"

"Un..." Heiji trailed off, unable to complete the sentence. He began to fidget, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

_Trying to say something._

"Why...?" she breathed.

_Something I've never been able to say before._

He said nothing, choking on air.

Kazuha clasped her hands together. "Heiji?" she ventured, leaning towards him.

_Please tell me._

Heiji gulped, steeled himself, and balled his hands into fists.

To hell with his ego. To hell with his dignity.

This was _Kazuha._

"I...I like it when ya...smile."

_I never want to see you sad. Only smiling._

"And I..." his brow knit together in frustration. "And I..."

_What are you trying to tell me?_

_I can't say it._

"Heiji..." she mumbled, face going redder by the second. She raised her hand up to her neck, clutching the string of her good luck charm. Their good luck charm.

_Please._

_I have to._

He mumbled something intelligible.

Her eyebrows shot up, and she sucked in a breath of surprise.

"Heiji?"

His eyes were squeezed shut, and he was leaning forwards, hands fisted tightly at his sides.

He slowly opened them, staring into Kazuha's confused face.

"Heiji, I didn't get a word of what ya just said to me."

Heiji could have just collapsed right then and there.

He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and looked off to the side, ducking his head.

"I said that I...ah...I kinda...sorta...mightbeinlovewithya."

"Slow down, Heiji!"

"I'm tryin' to tell ya somethin' important, ahou!" He shouted back. They stared into each other's eyes for a second, and the moment of fire instantly vanished.

Heiji suddenly felt very small.

Kazuha, fed up with him just mumbling nonsense at her and no longer caught in the moment from before, crossed her arms.

"We're going ta be late, Heiji. Just spit it out!" She demanded it, not realizing the weight of what he was trying to say.

"Damn it, Kazuha!" Heiji roared, marching right up to her, "I said that I'm in love with ya, ya crazy female!"

Time sort of froze right then and there.

Kazuha's jaw dropped, and her face went beet red.

"Ya...ya...ya said that ya..."

Heiji sighed, the momentum of the moment leaving him suddenly tired. "Ya heard what I said, Kazuha."

Kazuha's face went even redder, if that was possible.

She closed her mouth, gripping her hands together like they were a lifeline.

Heiji put his hands back in his pockets, looking away from her again.

"I...might be in love with ya too, Heiji," Kazuha murmured softly.

His head snapped back to hers, and he blinked owlishly at her.

"Um...um..." she stumbled over her words, "yeah. I am."

A smile spread over Heiji's face. It wasn't his usual cocky grin, though. This one was...gentler. Like she had just lit up his world.

And she couldn't help but smile too.

His finger came up, and he used it to tilt her head up to face him. "See? I like it when ya smile, Kazuha. Keep doin' it, ya psycho."

Kazuha felt tears spring in her eyes, and she leapt at him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her head into his shoulder.

"Ahou..." she mumbled against his shoulder.

He chuckled. "I know that, already. Don't need ta shove it in my face."

"Yes I do," she argued, but without the heat that their arguments usually possessed. This one was playful in a more subdued way.

She liked this change.

He wound his arms around her waist, and she marvelled at how perfect a fit it was. He squeezed her once, before pulling away.

"Kazuha, I know this is sort o' off topic, but we really are going ta be late..."

"Okay," she agreed, and he turned and began walking. He probably thought she'd be walking beside him.

Instead, she lingered behind a bit, marvelling at how a perfectly awful and confusing morning had become something so...wonderful, so quickly.

Heiji paused, glancing over his shoulder at her in question. Kazuha shook her head, trying to clear it. She must have looked like a total space case.

She just could not believe it, though.

_I'm in love with you._

_And you feel the same way._

"You comin'?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. When Kazuha didn't respond, a slow grin split his face. "Or are ya enjoyin' the view?"

Kazuha flushed red and waved a fist at him. "Don't go thinkin' yer so great, ya fat head!" She shouted, chasing after him as he took off at a run.

They both laughed as they ran, shouting at and teasing each other.

Kazuha couldn't help but think that this, _this_ was exactly how it was supposed to be.

_The End_

Well, there we go. A nice, fluffy little HeijixKazuha fic. Honestly, I think all of that fluff is going to asphyxiate me.

Tell me how you liked it! I always welcome and appreciate all kinds of feedback!

OoCA


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